Dreaming
by Black-Neko-Chan
Summary: In his dreams he saw Zagi.  Zagi was dead, he knew that, but he still saw him there all the same.  And despite knowing that Zagi had always been his enemy, Yuri had to admit, he was interested.


Woot, hiya peoples! Aaand, we have here a YurixZagi oneshot! Yay. I'm sure there are a lot of people that don't like that pairing, but I do, so I wrote this, so anyone who doesn't like it can buzz off. Why are you even looking at this? Anyways, for all the people that DO like this, here it is, because I think this pairing is adorable. Extremely improbable, but adorable nevertheless. And Zagi is freaking awesome, so he deserves some lovin'.

**Disclaimer!: **Black-Neko-Chan does not own Tales of Vesperia, nor does she own the characters. Heck, she doesn't even own an Xbox to play her game. She borrows her brother's.

* * *

"Yuri Lowell!"

The sound of his name spoken in a familiar, coolly poisonous tone woke Yuri from his sleep. He sat up in the bed with only a slight groggy feeling and felt for the hilt of his sword. Unfortunately, the only time he ever heard his full name being called out it was usually coming from the mouth of someone who didn't like him very much.

He looked around, but Yuri didn't notice anything that appeared out of the norm. Karol was spread out on his bed and snoring quietly; that however could barely be heard over the snores coming from the bed of the old man. The girls were sleeping in a different room and Repede was curled up near Yuri's bed and sound asleep. If something had really been up he would have awoken too. Huh. Must have been is imagination then.

Yuri put his sword back down on the ground beside his bed and lied down on his back. The afternoon sun was peeking in through the drawn blinds and Yuri realized that there wasn't much of a point in going back to sleep now. They'd be getting up pretty soon anyways.

Since the Adephagos had been defeated and all the blastia cores turned into spirits, Brave Vesperia had been getting a lot of jobs. With the barriers around the towns and cities gone, monsters could now get in and cause havoc. The knights and the guilds were working together to protect the people, and while they traveled around Brave Vesperia was helping out.

They were in Halure at the moment. Since they had been in the area, Estelle had suggested visiting the capital to see how Ioder was handling things and Yuri had agreed, saying he had wanted to check up on the lower quarter. After their visit they had traveled to Halure to see how things were there and had ended up staying. That had been three days ago. While there hadn't been any problems with monsters in Halure, the mayor had had a job for them and they had accepted. Yuri was beginning to wish they hadn't.

Probably because of the mayor (although he swore he hadn't done it) the story of the caged emperor's bride had spread throughout the small town, and now people who lived there swore that they had seen the shadowy, transparent figure of a young woman on several different occasions during different times of the night. The mayor had tried to find out what was going on but had been unable to uncover anything about the ghost. So he had hired Brave Vesperia to do it for him, and since then they had been going to sleep early and waking late to stay up all night in case the woman were to make an appearance. So far they hadn't seen anything, and changing their sleeping habits had been difficult for everyone. Yuri himself had been experiencing some strange dreams, though he didn't tell anyone that. Besides, he couldn't remember himself what they were when he woke up.

Yuri's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Repede's claws on the wooden floor. He sat up and met the stare of Repede's one good eye. The dog motioned his head toward the others and then continued his stare.

"Yeah, I guess it's time to wake them all up, huh?" Yuri asked. He patted Repede's head lightly and hopped out of the bed. Maybe tonight they would get lucky and find this ghost.

00000

"Yuri Lowell."

Yuri's head shot up. He was in Tarqaron again, but there was no one here with him. Estelle, Judy, Karol, Rita, the old man, even Repede, they were all gone. He was alone.

He started walking, thinking that maybe the others had gone on without him. Why they were in Tarqaron again he didn't know, but that was the only reason he could think of as to why he alone. So Yuri kept walking, the path familiar from the last time he'd been here. Then he was in a room he didn't remember walking to, familiar still. In the middle of the room was a large platform with three paths leading from it. One was broken, the other was the one he trod on, and the last continued upward. Standing in the middle of the platform was a lone figure. As Yuri approached it he experienced and unpleasant feeling of déjà-vu.

The moment Yuri grew close enough to the person he recognized him immediately. He didn't know how he could not have guessed it to begin with. After all, it was the same place, the same meeting, and hadn't this guy been tailing him for quite some time now?

"Oh not you again," Yuri sighed.

"Yuri! I've been waiting for you!" Zagi spoke. The déjà-vu was back. Hadn't this all happened before? It had, when they'd been here to stop Duke and to destroy the Adephagos. Zagi had challenged him then too and had fallen off the edge of the platform and had died. That had all happened before. Zagi had died, but yet here he was. In other words…

"Man, you're even stalking me in my dreams now too? Can't you just give up already?" Yuri complained.

"Ha ha, you're funny Yuri! Give up? Never! I'm having too much fun, don't you see?" Zagi laughed. He raised his arms up in the air and walked around in a full circle. It was now that Yuri noticed his dream was not exactly the same as the match he had fought with Zagi in Tarqaron. Zagi's left arm was normal again –the blastia he'd been using was gone. Not only that, but his hair was how he normally wore it, spiked up and not long and in his face like it had been in that match. His voice sounded perfectly normal too and was not warped by the blastia.

"This is fun Yuri. I've never felt so alive before except when I'm fighting you. So let's fight! No more talking!" Zagi yelled. He had been smirking before –almost wistfully it seemed—but now the assassin had brought out his weapons and was flipping them in his hands excitedly. Yuri had about half a second to react as Zagi suddenly let out a short, barkish laugh and charged at him. He dropped to the floor and tried to roll out of the way be he wasn't quite fast enough. He felt one blade slice the air near his face and the other nicked his arm and brought several beads of blood to the surface.

Yuri got up quickly and threw the sheath of his sword off. He raised the blade up just in time to parry another blow from the crazed assassin.

"See? Isn't this fun Yuri?" Zagi laughed. He attacked again and again with his blades, forcing Yuri to block and not letting him get an attack in. Yuri frowned and braced himself. When he felt the impact of Zagi's blades striking his own he thrust his sword upwards and shoved Zagi away from him.

"You're sick," Yuri scoffed. "Azure Edge!" He swung his sword at the air and the two shockwaves that came off it both hit Zagi directly. The blasts pushed him down to the ground and one of his weapons flew out of his hand.

"Fun," Zagi muttered. He pushed himself slowly off the ground and stood there hunched over. Yuri watched carefully, but he didn't note any signs of aggression in this stance. He lowered his sword carefully, cautiously, but did not take a step towards the figure of his opponent. Was this it? Was the match over already? It couldn't be. They hadn't even really started yet.

"See Yuri? It's loads of fun battling you. You think so too, don't you? I can see it," Zagi said. He walked over toward his blade and picked it up still hunched over the entire time. Then he stood up straight and rolled his head back and laughed. The next thing Yuri knew, Zagi was a whirlwind of activity and was charging at him with both of his weapons and Yuri was only now getting his sword back up and readying it for the attack…

…And then he woke up with a start. Before he was even aware of where he wash e had his hand on his sword, the memory of his dream still fresh in his mind. Before he could draw it out of its sheath he recognized the place he was at as no longer Tarqaron, but the giant tree at Halure. They were searching for the ghost and this was where she was rumored to be seen most often. No Zagi around. He was dead.

"Sorry guys, looks like I drifted off there for a minute. See anything?" Yuri asked with a yawn.

"Nah, nothing yet. You sure didn't miss anything, don't worry," Raven chuckled.

"Estelle told us to let you sleep. We were going to wake you if anything happened," Judith replied.

"Oh really? And where is the little princes snow?" Yuri asked. Judith pointed behind a giant upraised root of the big tree and Yuri got up, ignoring the popping of his knees as he stood. Behind the root were Estelle, Rita, and Karol, all passed out and asleep. Yuri chuckled and sat back down on the ground. He made himself comfortable and settled into a relaxed silence with his companions as they waited for something to happen.

00000

He was in Tarqaron again. The same room as before, darkness on all sides except for the platform in the middle and the three paths branching off of it. And there in the middle was the familiar outline of Zagi. Feeling tired and annoyed, Yuri headed down to the platform where he was waiting.

"Yuri! You left in the middle of our last match!" Zagi called out.

"Yeah yeah, and that's no fun, is it?" Yuri interrupted. Zagi looked confused for a moment, like he wasn't expecting that line to be thrown into the script. Then he smirked and got himself back on track.

"Now you understand! Isn't it fun Yuri? To feel your blood boiling in the heat of combat?" Zagi laughed. Yuri tolled his eyes. This guy sure had a one-track mind. While what he said was true and he did enjoy fighting, there did come a point when it just got to be too much. And Yuri had reached that point. He was sick of fighting with Zagi. The guy was dead! He shouldn't even _be_ able to fight him anymore! So when Yuri reached the platform where the assassin was waiting, he plopped right down on the floor and watched him. This was only a dream anyways, so what did it matter if he didn't fight? And seeing the completely flabbergast expression on the crazed one's face made it absolutely worth it.

"This is all just a dream I'm having you know. So why should I bother fighting?" Yuri commented. He lied back down on the platform and put one arm under his head to keep it propped up, and then closed his eyes.

"If you don't pick up your weapon and fight, I'll kill you!" Zagi's voice came from somewhere above him. Instead of sounding excited and presumptuous like he always did, he sounded confused and uncertain. Surely this behavior was throwing him for a loop. So even though he was being threatened, Yuri continued to lie on the ground.

"So what? I've died in dreams before and you know what happens? I wake up," Yuri said. That response was greeted with silence, and Yuri opened one of his eyes to peek at his surroundings. Zagi was standing above him. He looked confused, like he didn't know what to do next. Which was probably true. Fighting was his life, wasn't it? What was he supposed to do if he couldn't fight? While the expression on his face was priceless, the plight of the assassin prevented Yuri from laughing. So instead of doing that Yuri sat up and patted the floor beside him.

"Sit," he commanded, "Unless you're really going to kill me?" Zagi snarled at him and swung his weapons out, but then put them away and sat down in a pose similar to the way the old man sat. He had sat much further away then Yuri had intended him to and was now glaring at him suspiciously. This time the assassin's behavior reminded him of how distrustful Repede acted around strangers, and he almost did laugh.

"What do you want?" Zagi asked, still sounding scowling.

"Talk. Nothing else to do," Yuri shrugged.

"We could fight!" Zagi suggested, a definite tone of bloodlust entering his voice at the mere mention of a brawl. Yuri inwardly sighed. Was that all there was to this guy?

"Why?" Yuri asked. When that confused look came back into Zagi's features Yuri did sigh this time and then elaborated. "Why fight? Why is it that fighting is the only thing you do? Why is it so important to you?" Surprisingly, he was actually interested in knowing the answer to this. Since he had first run into Zagi, the assassin had been completely fixated on fighting with him. After he had died, though he didn't want to admit it, he had actually come to some sort of understanding when it came to Zagi. Fighting was his way of expressing himself, something he couldn't seem to do any other way. What he wanted to know now was why that was so. And this was the perfect opportunity to find out. Yuri did enjoy fighting, even with his crazed stalker, but there was no need to now, and he really wanted to know.

"Why not?" Zagi shot back stubbornly, of course not answering the question and sating Yuri's curiosity that easily.

"Because no one fights as much as you do," Yuri chuckled easily. Zagi's glower intensified and he scooted away even more.

"Well I _like_ fighting," He responded, sounding exactly like a petulant little child.

"Hey hey, I wasn't making fun of you or anything. I just wanted to know. Honestly," Yuri said. But Zagi had already stood up and was walking away from Yuri, his back toward him. He stopped walking suddenly and stood deadly still. Yuri got up too now, but didn't approach the still figure.

"I like fighting. It's fun. It's my life. It's the only thing I can do," He said.

00000

More and more often Yuri found himself drifting off into his dreams, even when he wasn't asleep. When they stayed at the inn he dreamt about seeing Zagi, when they were all waiting at the tree he dreamt, sometimes even in the middle of a conversation he found himself drifting off and arriving at Taqaron. It completely disoriented him when it happened in conversations because at Tarqaron it felt like hours were passing, and then he would wake up and discover that only some odd minutes of the conversation had actually passed by.

While the times he began dreaming in conversations were annoying, Yuri didn't mind it happening on other occasions. They had been at Halure for two more days and nothing had yet to appear before them that even resembled a ghost. To say that in comparison talking with Zagi was interesting was an understatement. Of course most of the time they weren't talking, but hey, who cared about the details?

Although Brave Vesperia had only been in Halure for two days since Yuri had first dreamt and seen Zagi, he had seen him many more times then just twice. Most of these times Zagi only wanted to fight, and even if Yuri didn't feel like it, if Zagi wanted to fight, then he fought. Yuri had died in his dreams a handful of times already, a rather unpleasant experience. He had actually felt the pain of dying, and after being killed by Zagi a number of times for not wanting to fight, he began to listen to the assassin and fight when he wanted to. Their matches had become something like a training session for the both of them, with both giving it their all but neither really trying to kill their opponent. Compared to the tedious doldrums of his waking day, Yuri enjoyed these matches immensely. He hadn't enjoyed practicing this much since training with Flynn when they'd been younger.

That wasn't to say that all of the time Yuri spent in his dream world was fighting. While the majority of the time was spent fighting, there were times when Zagi was completely silent and lethargic and didn't move, much less talk at all. The first time Yuri had witnesses one of these moods he had been completely blown away and almost frightened. The assassin sat curled up near the edge of the platform unmoving and stared at the walls of the room with wide, crazed eyes. The one time Yuri had tried to touch him he had snapped and whipped out his blades. Zagi had attacked him with such single-minded intensity that Yuri had a hard time keeping up with him. He was silent the whole time, his constricted crimson eyes speaking volumes of loathing and bloodlust. And he would not tire, no matter what Yuri threw at him. Yuri had to eventually allow himself to be killed to get away from him.

When Zagi was not lethargic or fighting-crazed, they sat and talked. Not that Yuri learned much about the other. He was stubborn and evasive and didn't like answering questions. Hat didn't stop Yuri from trying however. He wanted to know about Zagi, to know why he acted the way he did. The real Zagi had been his enemy, but that Zagi was dead. This Zagi was not trying to stop him from accomplishing the things he needed to do and was no longer even trying to kill him. He could try, but Yuri could not bring himself to think of this dream Zagi as his enemy.

00000

Yuri was laying spread out on the floor of the platform panting. Zagi was laying a few feet away from him in a similar state. Today had been one of the days when Zagi had wanted to fight, and so fight they had. They had spent what felt like hours attacking one another and perfecting their moves and honing their reflexes. Now both of them were worn out and tired, and Yuri felt like he could really go for a nap. Even in a dream he could get tired it seemed.

"Hey, so that was pretty good, right?" Yuri asked as he sat up from the floor. He rested one hand on his leg and the other supported him from behind. Zagi copied his lead and also sat up, though he was hunched over and his back was facing Yuri.

"Man, imagine how much better things would be if we had a wider space to fight. I bet our matches would be even better then. You think we can get out of this place?" Yuri questioned, saying just about whatever popped into his mind. Zagi, he noticed, was not responding with the usual vigor and excitement he always had after fighting however. In fact, he hadn't talked much when they'd been battling either. There had been almost none of Zagi's usual bloodlust crazed taunts. And the comments he had made had sounded… halfhearted almost.

"What's up?" Yuri asked. When Zagi still didn't say anything Yuri lifted his tired body off the ground and headed over there to him. He cautiously placed a hand on the assassin's shoulder, remembering that the last time he had disturbed Zagi when he'd been quiet and withdrawn like this he had paid the price. And right now his body was way too worn out to do any more serious fighting. Luckily for him, Zagi only pushed his hand off and scouted farther away. It almost made Yuri smile. He could act exactly like a child sometimes.

"Well you can tell me if you want to," Yuri offered. He sat back down on the ground and sighed. Beside him, Zagi stayed quiet.

"It's…," He started, a couple of minutes later. "I want… I want to have fun. But it's not… It's not anymore. I don't… I don't want to fight you anymore, Yuri."

"What?" Yuri questioned sharply, shocked out of his usual laidback attitude by this confession. But after he spoke that sentence Zagi said no more and didn't look at him either. Yuri sat there in silence, pondering what his companion had meant by that. For as long as he had known Zagi, fighting had always been his thing. Every time they had met the only thing Zagi had been interested in was fighting. It was as he'd said, that fighting was his life. And now he said he didn't want to do that anymore. How could he say that, and what had happened to make him feel that way?

Before he even knew it, he had spent hall of his time wondering that, and when Yuri awoke he was in Halure again trying to find the ghost.

00000

When he returned to Zagi later on that day, he was surprised to find that the assassin had not moved from his position at all. Every other time he went here, Zagi was always in there in the middle of the platform, waiting for him. This time he was sitting close to the edge of the platform and hunched up, just as Yuri had seen him last, with the exception of his hair. Instead of it being spiky and messy like it normally was, Zagi's multi-colored hair was down and hanging in his face, the same as it had been during their last battle, when Yuri had killed him. He felt apprehensive for some reason, and honed as he was to always follow his instincts, he placed a hand on the grip of his sword as he approached the other person in the room.

"Hey," He greeted, easily able to keep any apprehension from entering his voice. If something _was_ wrong, there as no sense in letting Zagi knew that _he_ knew. "Still not talking?"

"You always want to talk," Zagi muttered.

"Well yeah. I like fighting as much as the next guy, but I don't think there's anything wrong with talking either," Yuri responded. He sat down beside Zagi, feeling a bit more comfortable now that the other had talked.

"What are you doing to me?" Zagi asked.

"Huh?" Yuri questioned, not because he hadn't heard, but because he hadn't understood.

"What are you doing to me Yuri?" Zagi roared, and for the first time since he had arrived here the assassin turned around and looked at him. His ruby eyes were constricted and gleaming, but he could detect no madness in them, no bloodlust. His hair hung down long and in his face, and it made him look… vulnerable. When Yuri had seen Zagi like this during that last battle, he had looked power-hungry and deranged. His eyes had shone with madness and he had forced Yuri and everyone else to fight him with everything they had. Now there was no world to be saved and the situation was not so desperate. Now there was no madness in Zagi's eyes, and the big blastia arm he'd had was gone. Without it he looked much smaller, not as deadly, and with his hair down like that, he just looked confused… and lost. Yuri stretched out his hand, lost in a trance, to do what he did not know, but before he could reach Zagi had scooted away from him like a frightened animal.

"No," He said, "No! Answer the question! What did you do to me? Why do I feel like this? Why don't I want to fight you anymore? Why don't I want to kill you?" Zagi yelled. He had gotten up by this point and was pacing the platform, two clawed hands buried in his hair, like maybe he could force the answer out of his own head somehow.

"'Feel?'" Yuri repeated, standing up too now. "What do you mean? I don't understand."

"You did something," Zagi accused, his voice venomously low. He turned and stared at Yuri, and a shiver ran down his spine. "You did something to me. You made me feel different. Before I was chasing after you because I wanted to kill you. Now I would do it just to be by you. I don't want to fight you anymore Yuri. I don't want to hurt you. Instead I want to do other things now. Why?"

"I-I still don't understand. What other things?" Yuri questioned, frowning a little nervous. He knew that even if Zagi chose to attack him, despite his claims to not want to, he would wake up in Halure and be fine. So there was no real reason to be nervous, it was just that now, the tables had changed. Zagi was no longer a frightened animal, but was advancing toward him like a predator would its cornered prey, his eyes gleaming savagely.

"These kinds," Zagi uttered, and with a growl he grabbed Yuri and pressed their bodies together. Their lips were connected and one of Zagi's hands was viciously fisting his purple locks before Yuri even quite understood the situation. His hand twitched, but it let go of the handle of his sword and fell to his side.

His mind balked. It told him to stop and that _this was not right!_ But Yuri was too far gone by that point. He could feel Zagi's muscled body against his own; could smell the scents of Zagi, of sweat and blood, the scents of a man and of a warrior; could taste Zagi on his lips and in his mouth as an impatient tongue battled his own; could feel Zagi pulling his hair, yanking it, strangely causing both pain and a foreign sense of pleasure; could see Zagi in front of him. All of his senses were ignited and alive with Zagi, and he didn't mind it at all. He could recall once having pictured a similar situation with him and Flynn, but that had never happened and he had let it go. Now it was Zagi who had taken Flynn's place, and while he never would have imagined it, he did not mind at all. Turned out that he had been thinking of _these_ kinds of things as well.

While their tongues continued to fight for dominance that hand kept gripping tighter and tighter in his hair, and now Zagi's free hand grabbed onto the folds of his clothes and pulled him even tighter. Yuri's first hand rested on Zagi's waist near his hip, the other was tightly holding onto his arm, probably tight enough to leave bruises. The hand at Zagi's waist struggled to find purchase, and then his fingers grazed across one of the buckles of his outfit. He broke the kiss and now both hands fiddled with that buckle to undo it, Yuri ever aware of Zagi's hungry eyes watching him.

He undid the main buckle around the assassin's waist, but after that one was off there were still several others to deal with. Yuri tried to undo them quickly, but that caused him to fumble and mess up, and all the while Zagi's own roaming hands inside the opening of his shirt were a great distraction. He cursed the design of the outfit. Who would put on so many buckles anyways? He wanted, he wanted, he wanted… He did not know exactly what he wanted, but he wanted this armor off, wanted the material under it off, wanted to see Zagi underneath all of that. What he wanted after that…

When he got the top of the outfit Zagi wore underneath his armor off he stopped, stunned out of his lust-driven fog by what he saw. He raised his had and with two fingers touched Zagi's chest. The assassin was strong, muscled, that was for sure, but his sculpted chest was marred by a long scar stretching from his left hip to his right shoulder. Yuri stared at the wound and felt a shiver of discomfort run down his spine.

"Something wrong with my body Yuri?" Zagi questioned curtly. Yuri looked up at Zagi, and the assassin's gaze was narrow and calculating. "Come on Yuri, say something. You might make me start to feel bad otherwise."

"It's fine. But… Did I do that?" Yuri questioned. Zagi smirked and draped his arms around Yuri's shoulders. He chuckled and Yuri felt his breath against his neck. It sent another shiver down his spine, this one not unpleasant. Zagi leaned in closer and began to nibble at his earlobe, an action that caused Yuri to flush.

"You aren't gonna stop now are you? That wouldn't be fair Yuri. No fair to stop now," Zagi hissed. He licked the side of Yuri's neck down to his collarbone. Once there Zagi's mouth latched onto his collarbone and he bit the spot hard enough to draw blood, then lapped it all up eagerly. The shock of seeing Zagi's torn body was fading quickly now, and once more all Yuri would think about was the warm body pressed up against his own, and the feelings and pleasure that body was giving him.

"Come on Yuri. Make me feel alive," Zagi whispered. That broke it. That broke the trance Yuri had been in, and he pushed the assassin away from him violently. Zagi let himself be pushed, and his body fell to the floor in a heap.

"I can't do this. This isn't right," Yuri said. Zagi remained quiet, then threw his head back and started to laugh. Now the deranged look and the madness were back and that entire vulnerable look was long gone, and Yuri couldn't believe what he'd been about to do.

"Oh, what's wrong Yuri? You don't want to do this anymore? Is it because I'm dead? Because you killed me Yuri! You were the one that ended my life!" Zagi laughed.

"I'm leaving. And I'm not coming back," Yuri said coolly. Zagi's derisive laughter stopped and he looked at Yuri. His eyes twinkled madly.

"You won't be able to leave," He assured. "You come here when you dream. So you'll be back. And I'll be waiting. I'll always be waiting. It's the only thing I can do anymore."

"No I won't," Yuri said harshly. He meant it, but even he did not miss the hint of sadness that had entered Zagi's voice as he said that last sentence.

00000

When Yuri woke up he felt worn and tired. The afternoon sun was slowly setting and very soon it would be time for everyone to wake up and search for the ghost once more. He felt irritated. This would be their sixth night in Halure, and yet they had still found nothing. Well that would end tonight. Before he had wanted to complete the job, but when he'd been talking with Zagi it hadn't been his top priority. Instead of focusing on the task at hand as he should have been, he was concentrating more on his talks with Zagi, and wondering when the next one would be. No more. Now he was going to focus solely on the job and what he needed to do. No more of his attention would be wasted on _that_ particular ghost.

When everyone else woke up they all headed to their usual spot at the big tree of Halure. They passed the mayor and several townspeople on their way up there, and all of them thanked them for their hard work. Yuri laughed and told them it was no problem, Estelle said much the same thing in nicer terms, Raven complained, and Judith giggled. It was all so normal, and Yuri found it hard to believe that it was possible that he'd been having such dreams. In his dreams it had always felt like he was really talking to Zagi, even though that should have been impossible, seeing as he was dead. Now, away from the hold his dreams had over him, Yuri felt that they were all just a by-product of his hectic sleeping schedule and the atmosphere surrounding this job. That was all it could be, and he wouldn't let it get to him anymore.

When they got to the tree they settled into their usual spots and began the waiting game. Rita disappeared behind several large tree roots, saying that as she didn't believe in ghosts, she was going to do some research on a small project of hers. Everyone knew that it was an excuse to be hidden just in case the ghost did show up, but at this point they were all too fed up with having to wait so long to comment on it. And so the minutes passed silently, and not too long into the night Rita and Karol fell asleep.

"They're still just kids, no matter how grown up they act," Judith giggled

"Ah!" Estelle exclaimed. The other four that were still awake (Repede included of course) all turned in the direction of the princess's call, none of them expecting to see anything pertaining even remotely to what they were looking for. Not only had nothing shown up all the other times they'd been here, but everyone was used to Estelle's extensive knowledge being the reason behind most of her seemingly random outbursts. So, to say the least, everyone was more the a little surprised to find _something_ hovering just a few feet in front of her.

"Whoa!" Raven yelped. Yuri had already jumped up from his seat against the tree and had his hand on the handle of his sword. Much as he didn't want to think about it, his constant fighting with Zagi had kept his reflexes in top shape. Yuri shook his head, banishing that phantom from his thoughts. He had to concentrate on this ghost now, not that one. He'd spent enough of his time in the company of the past.

(_What's he doing now?_)

The figure hovering in front of Estelle was clearly _not_ clear. It didn't appear to have any noticeable gender traits, or any traits at all actually. It just looked like a very fuzzy, very transparent humanoid shape. But this had to be it, this had to be the ghost of the caged emperor's bride everyone had been seeing. The figure did not seem menacing or give off an aura of distrust, but even still, Yuri kept his hand on his sword. He didn't want to pull it out just yet in case he scared the figure away, but he definitely wanted to be ready for anything.

"You have it," The figure spoke. Its voice was definitely feminine, and it seemed to be speaking to Estelle, as much as anyone could surmise without the help of facial features.

"Have… what?" Estelle asked. Her voice was remarkably steady for one so close to a specter. Instead of sounding nervous or afraid, Yuri was only slightly surprised to hear the note of curiosity in her voice. Half of him had already expected it. That was their princess, the ever-inquisitive bookworm.

"…It. You have it. I… can feel it," The ghost said. "…Mine."

"Okay, does anyone else understand what's going on here? Do you Estelle?" Yuri interrupted. The figure swung its featureless head in his direction and he was immediately able to almost feel the scorn coming off the thing. So it didn't appear to be hostile, but it certainly had a temper.

"It seems like she wants something," Judith commented attentively.

"Oooh, brilliant deduction Judith baby!" Raven piped up. Judith shot him an icy smile and he visibly cringed. "Ouch…! No need to be so harsh, baby…"

"Wants something…," Estelle murmured thoughtfully. She looked hard at the figure and rubbed her chin. Then a moment later her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Oh I know!" she waked over to the big root behind which Rita and Karol were still sleeping, the ghost making sure to keep its gaze on her at all times, and then disappeared from sight. Yuri took a step forward, ready to intervene if something were to happen, but a moment later Estelle reappeared clutching something white in both hands.

"Here it is! I had almost forgotten all about it! I asked Karol to hold onto it in his bag for me when I found it. You dropped it, didn't you? Your veil," Estelle said. The ghost approached Estelle and outstretched its hands to accept the veil. Yuri watched carefully for any sign that things might go sour. But as Estelle handed over the veil and the ghost took it, he couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed. While it did have a temper, this specter certainly wasn't looking for a fight. It just wanted its veil back. It wasn't as if Yuri _had_ desired a fight, it was just that well… recently he _had_ been fighting a lot. He was kind of used to it now

"Is this what you were looking for?" Estelle was asking. Her voice broke through Yuri's thought, and he shook his head briskly once more and reminded himself to focus.

"Yes," The figured whispered.

"Then will you leave these villagers in peace now and resume your own rest?" Estelle asked.

"I shall," It responded. And then before all of their eyes, it slowly faded away. In the sky, the first few rays of the sun were starting to show, and the shadow of the big tree of Halure began to shorten.

00000

And that was it. They remained at Halure for another two days to make sure the ghost didn't show up again, and when it didn't, they headed off again to find more jobs for the guild and any cities that had problems with monsters. Everyone was happy to finally be out of Halure and back on the road again, and while Yuri was happy with this outcome as well, he couldn't deny the existence of a small part of him that felt disheartened.

He hadn't dreamt about Tarqaron and the person there waiting for him since Halure. Well…. not like that. That wasn't to say that Yuri hadn't had _dreams_ about the assassin. And in his waking moments, even though he desperately longed not to, he was helpless to prevent thoughts about him from entering his mind. He _wanted_ to see the other, if his body and unconscious mind were any indication of _that_ fact, and yet, he prevented himself from doing this. The dead should stay dead, this he was certain of. And so should Zagi.

He knew this clearly, but he felt guilty over it. After all, _he_ was the one who had landed the final blow on the assassin, _he_ was the one who had killed him, and if it was true that Zagi felt that he could no longer kill him like he wanted, well then, that was _his_ fault as well. Somehow, even though Zagi was dead, Yuri was still able to talk to him, and because of that talking he had changed Zagi's entire outlook, at least where he was involved. And unless anyone else had been having dreams about the crazed assassin, then he _was_ the other's entire outlook. It felt like he had messed up everything for Zagi and then just left him. He couldn't help but to feel guilty.

"Yuri? Is something wrong?" Estelle questioned delicately, bringing him back from his thoughts. Yuri laughed and shook his head.

"Of course not. Just enjoying being out here in the open again instead of cooped up in that little town," Yuri lied, easily enough. Estelle's face brightened and she smiled.

"It is nice to be outdoors again. It's such a pleasant feeling," Estelle sighed. Yuri nodded and agreed silently, and that small part of him felt guilty for the freedom he was experiencing and the other was not.

00000

Yuri dreamt about Zagi that night. He woke up in a cold sweat and was panting hard. His pants felt unpleasantly tight, and when he looked down at himself he groaned. He forced himself to lie back down and tried to calm himself and will away his arousal. He'd dreamt about Zagi, but not in the same way he had all those previous times. In those dreams he battled the assassin and fought with him, but these most _recent_ ones, these were completely different.

(panting, moaning, the feel of their bodies crashing together, so warm, so nice, make that noise again, make that noise again, call my name)

Yuri closed his eyes tightly and placed his hands over his ears, but that didn't help at all. The images were in his head and they danced there gleefully-

(red hair)

-almost seeming to laugh at his pitiful state and taunt him like manic children-

(succulent flesh)

-and he could do nothing to stop them, nothing to prevent these images and the noises accompanying them from affecting him. And he _wanted_ them, he wanted them so badly, wanted to grip handfuls of that crimson hair and touch fiery skin, and wanted to be the one to make him utter those noises and to scream for him, wanted to _so badly!_

Without even realizing that he was doing it, Yuri's hand moved slowly down his chest, to the bane of all his problems. Vaguely, he registered that his companions were all sleeping in the same room as he, but when his hand reached its destination and closed around it that thought flew out of his head. There were so many other things to think about now, like warm flesh and red hair and all those delectable little noises the one in his dream had been making.

He closed his eyes again and all of those images flooded back in so much clearer then before. And now, as his hand pumped up and down and he pushed his head back further into his pillow, now Yuri accepted all of these images gladly. He wanted them, he wanted them, he wanted even more. He wanted Zagi here with him so he did not have to touch himself but could touch _him_.

("Ahh…! …Nnn… ngh!")

He didn't care anymore if the assassin were dead and if he were dead because of _him_, he just wanted him, wanted him so badly, _needed_ him now. He wanted to touch him and to be touched, to smell him even, to feel him underneath him, to hear his voice as he cried out in the throes of passion, just to _see_ him. He wanted all of this, he wanted all of this here with him now, he wanted Zagi here with him so he would now longer have to touch himself but could have the other produce in him this state of insanity.

"Ahhh…," Yuri gasped. He opened his eyes briefly and bit his lip. It was becoming harder to keep quiet now. His hand moved hurriedly, bringing him closer and closer to the brink. His body trembled and his breathing came out in short, irregular gasps. Yuri bit down on his lip hard enough to cause it to split open and begin to bleed as a moan threatened to rip free from his throat. He was near his release now and it was all he could do to keep quiet.

(_"Yuri…"_)

He arched his back as he reached the height of his pleasure and his release came, hot and sticky into the pal of his hand.

(_"Yuri…"_)

"Zah…," Yuri panted. His body trembled still in the aftermath of his orgasm, and now he could feel a weary tiredness descending over him again. "Za… Zagi…"

(_"…Ah! Ah! Yuri!_")

Yuri fell briefly into a light slumber. The images of the dream he'd had drifted in and out of his thoughts along with the knowledge of what he had just done. When he woke up again a little while later, he crept out of his bed on unsteady feet and headed for the bathroom to try and clean himself up. He felt guilty, as he always did now, but accompanying it now was a deep sense of shame.

00000

"I knew you'd be back."

Yuri was at Tarqaron. Everything looked exactly the way he'd seen it last, even Zagi was the same. He still stood there in the middle of the platform, always waiting, smiling that creepy, deranged grin he had. But that was obvious. The dead do not change. Merely rot away into remembrance.

"I'm not here because I want to be," Yuri replied. Everything was the same but he, the one still alive, the one who _could_ change. He felt awkward and out of place here now. He didn't belong. He didn't want to belong.

(he did he did he wanted to oh he wanted to)

"Oh? Well in that case just leave. I'm not going to be the object of your _pity_, Yuri Lowell, just because you feel guilty and want to soothe your conscience. I've still got my pride. It's the only thing the dead can have," Zagi grinned. He was taking a sadistic sort of pleasure in his discomfort, Yuri noted, and again he felt his guilt. What else really _was_ there for him to take pleasure in, with only one sole person being able to see him, and that one person being the very same soul who had killed him.

Yuri said nothing in response to that. It was true, after all. He did not want to be here. He had gone only because he wanted to put this entire issue to rest, as it should be.

(liar)

"So come on Yuri! Leave! You don't want to be here, I don't want you to be here, so just leave," Zagi said, voice taunting as he slyly inched ever closer to where Yuri stood. The assassin grew so close to him that soon their bodies were only mere inches apart, and a sense of dèjá-vu hit Yuri as memories were invoked within him of a body against his own, warm lips and calloused hands, and two tongues dancing. Despite this, he held strong to his resolve. The dead should stay dead. They couldn't get a second chance.

"I'm not leaving," Yuri replied adamantly. Zagi's grin faded and morphed into a smile, so sweet and out of character that even something meant to be kind and reassuring seemed menacing.

"Then die!" He roared, and before Yuri had time to act the assassin had pushed him off the side of the platform. On instinct alone Yuri's hands grabbed for something to hang onto as he fell backwards, and by some miracle found purchase on the edge of the platform. He gripped onto the stone surface so hard his knuckles turned white and the rough stone surface dug into the palms of his hands.

Yuri looked down. Beneath him was a large gaping darkness, waiting to swallow him. Suddenly he became aware that this was different from any other time he had died here, He had fallen into the darkness before and woken up in his bed at Halure, but this time it was different, it felt menacing somehow. Like if he did let go he would fall into that darkness and remain there forever, devoured by whatever toothy little monsters called that void their home. A sharp pain in his right hand and the abrupt feeling of falling an inch or two jarred Yuri and sent him looking upward at Zagi.

His hand was cut and bleeding and hanging by his side instead of holding onto the ledge. Zagi had a knife in his hands covered in blood –his blood. He grinned manically at Yuri and crouched down in front of him, far away so that Yuri couldn't reach him even if he tried. He raised the bloodied knife to his lips and ran his tongue up and down the length of the blade in a strangely erotic gesture, lapping up the crimson blood that stained it.

"What a wonderful sight," He purred "I cold kill you right now, you know? Ha ha ha ha ha haaa! Oh, look at the great Yuri Lowell now!" Zagi threw his head back and laughed. The brackish sound of it and the madness within it sent shivers down Yuri's back, and he understood. The reason he had never died before was because it had never been Zagi's will to actually kill him. Now, the aura around the assassin was sharp, sharp as the blade he had used to cut his hand, and it was filled with bloodlust and a level of intense insanity Yuri had never seen before. Somehow, this place was all Zagi's making, like a glimpse into his mind, and he was the one in charge. If he wanted Yuri dead, then Yuri would be dead.

"Oh I could kill you, I could kill you _easily_…! I could push you off this ledge here, or I could cut you up and watch all of the blood pour out of your body and listen to your _screams_…," Zagi cooed derisively. He laughed again, this time more of a giggle, then abruptly cut off and stared at Yuri with half-lidded, crazed eyes.

"So which do you think I should pick?" He asked conversationally.

"How about neither?" Yuri joked lightly. Before Zagi could answer his question, the one of how he was to die was answered instead. The grin was wiped immediately off Yuri's face as his hand slipped and finally let go of the ledge completely. He was falling, falling into the darkness, falling to his death, and Zagi was still there in front of him, growing smaller, looking stone-faced. And then he felt something latch onto his arm with a steel grip and he was flying upwards, and then crashed into the hard floor of the same platform he'd fallen off of.

He bolted up, ignoring the aching of his now hurt body from his rough landing and looked to where the assassin was. Zagi was hunched over at the spot where he'd fallen, breathing heavily.

"Why… why did you save me?" Yuri asked, still quite shocked that he was still here –alive—and not a nasty splat on the floor. "I thought you wanted me dead?"

"…I told you didn't I? I don't want to kill you anymore. It… wouldn't be fun. Even then, I don't think I would have. Why kill the one person able to beat me in a fight and give my life meaning? Especially now. You're the only one who can see me. It's always been you," Zagi muttered.

Yuri didn't say anything. Again he felt that nagging sense of guilt attacking his conscience, as well as a growing respect for this man who, insane as he was, still made a great deal of sense more often then Yuri cared to admit. This man who was somehow purer than he, who had saved his enemy from death when he had killed his own without a second thought about it.

"If you're going to leave then you should. Before I really do kill you. You don't want to be here. I don't want you to either. So get lost," Zagi said. Yuri smiled gently. He sounded exactly like a child still clinging to the idea that he was in charge. He didn't know anything about how this man had been brought up or what his childhood had been like, but he was almost certain that he'd only been taught the basics on human behavior but all about how to kill and the best ways to do this. And that had created the person Zagi was now, a powerful and deadly assassin, but with no idea how to act like adults did. It was sad, but Yuri thought that his childish behaviors could definitely be cute sometimes.

"Liar," he said. He had sat down beside the still-hunched figure of Zagi and poked him in the side. Zagi raised his head and glared at him.

"What would you know?" He scowled.

"Probably more than you think. You don't want me to go anywhere, or you wouldn't have saved me. And even if I say otherwise, I guess I don't want to go anywhere either," Yuri admitted thoughtfully. Zagi looked at him carefully, his ruby eyes taking on a familiar look, and Yuri had about six seconds to react before Zagi had forced their lips together. He'd known it was going to happen and he'd had enough time to stop it, but he hadn't. Yuri could still sense that ever-present feeling of guilt somewhere in the back of his mind, but he was not doing this because of that feeling. He was doing this because it was what he_ wanted_.

Zagi wasted no time in prying his mouth open and forcing his own tongue inside, and within seconds Yuri had done the same. Apparently that was not good enough though, and Zagi growled, the noise sending vibrations through his throat and causing quite the interesting feel. Zagi pulled away viciously, severing the string of saliva that connected the two, and pushed Yuri down to the ground. He situated himself on top of Yuri with his legs on either side of his hips, straddling him. Then he began to undo the many buckles of his outfit.

Although he doubted Zagi knew it, the sight of him undressing himself was actually strangely arousing. He could almost feel the blood rushing to his neither regions, and that, as well as the vivid images from his dreams that had come back to taunt him, were making sure that Zagi, who was still sitting on top of him, would soon become aware of the state Yuri was in.

He leaned up to help with the process of removing those damn buckles but Zagi pushed him back down to the ground with a look.

"You take too long," He explained shortly, and Yuri fought against the insane urge to laugh. He almost couldn't believe that he was here, actually doing this with a man, no less the one who had tried to kill him so many times in the past. The absurdity of the entire situation made it seem like some elaborate and well-thought hoax, yet it was actually happening. And he wanted it to happen.

Zagi removed the top of his outfit and stripped out of the skintight material he wore down to his waist. Yuri once again saw his bare chest and the scar that stretched across it, but he didn't allow it to affect him as it had before. He knew that he had been the one to cause it and he accepted this. As a show of this acceptance he sat up, uncaring of if Zagi still wanted him down or not, and ran his fingers across the length of the scar. Gooseflesh rippled across the pale skin as Zagi shivered, and then Yuri leant his head down to the assassin's bare chest and began to trail feather light kisses up the scar he had made. Zagi made neither a movement nor a sound, and when Yuri had raised his head to look at the man gain he saw a perplexed expression on his face.

"What was that?" Zagi questioned, confused.

"Nothing," Yuri said, shaking his head. His confusion only enforced the idea that Zagi hadn't learned much more than how to kill, if he couldn't understand the meaning behind that gesture. Yuri shook his head and leaned forward to catch the other man's lips in a hungry kiss. There were other ways to express his emotions for this neglected being.

Zagi took dominance of the kiss quickly enough with his tongue while his hands began to take off Yuri's shirt. He slid it down Yuri's shoulders and then took it off completely and discarded it somewhere off to the side when it was deemed unnecessary. The moment it was gone Zagi broke the kiss and bit down on Yuri's collarbone harshly. He cried out from the pain of it, but feeling Zagi's tongue on his skin, liking around the wound he had created sent a shiver down his spine and to his groin as he wondered how it would feel in _other_ places. He was fully aroused now, and there was no way Zagi _couldn't_ have noticed.

While Zagi continued to work on nibbling and licking the skin around his collarbone, Yuri let his own hands roam against the chest of the other man. His fingers traced over the large scars across his chest and found smaller ones that had passed by his notice before. He brushed over the assassin's erect nipples and traced the contours of lean muscle he felt thrumming with power underneath skin. And after he had satisfied himself with that he traced down to Zagi's waist where the material from his skintight suit was hanging. He tugged at it innocently, trying to reveal more of Zagi for him to explore, and his companion broke away from his neck and looked at him.

"Ow. You know, that's going to leave quite the mark," Yuri said, trying to joke, but somehow it came out in a low, husky murmur.

"Good. Then everyone who sees it will know that you belong to me and only to me," Zagi hissed possessively. Yuri moved to kiss him again but Zagi moved out of the way. Yuri looked at him, wondering what was going on, and then noticed that Zagi was now taking off the rest of his outfit. Yuri just stared.

"You wanted it off, didn't you?" He asked. Yuri nodded. His eyes trailed up and down Zagis body, noticing very detail there was to notice. He saw that there were small scars and in places even burns all over his skin. None as bad as the fatal one across his chest, but there were still an abundance of them. Were they from past battles, or something else? He wanted to know, but he didn't think Zagi would tell him.

"Well?" Zagi questioned impatiently. Yuri flushed. Now that he was really here in this situation, he wasn't sure what to do. In his dreams he had never encountered this problem, it had always just been happening with no lead up to it.

"W-well… What do you-" Yuri started.

"Make me feel alive," Zagi interrupted. That shocked Yuri more than he would have cared to admit, and he stared at Zagi blankly. Zagi pushed Yuri back down to the ground and shifted on top of him, placing one of his legs in between Yuri's. Yuri gasped loudly as their erections touched and a jolt of pleasure shot through him at the contact.

"I want you…" Zagi trailed off, grabbing the waistline of his pants. He removed them slowly, sliding down the length of Yuri's body, still straddling him all the while.

"…to make me…" Now Zagi trailed his hand up Yuri's abdomen, following the path of his sternum and onto the dip of his neck, then past that, past his lips and his eyes, and came to a rest in his hair. He grabbed a handful of Yuri's hair and yanked, forcing him to back into a sitting position to ease the pain. His other hand gripped Yuri's erection, making him cry out even as his eyes began to tear from the hard grip on his hair.

"…feel alive," Zagi finished, looking at Yuri quite deliberately.

"Aha…! But… But if we do it right now… It'll hurt without some kind of… ahh!" Yuri cried out as Zagi ran his hand up the length of his member.

"I don't care. I want to feel it. I want to feel," Zagi said. Apparently that was the end of the discussion, for with that Zagi guided Yuri's erection to his entrance and impaled himself on it.

A tight heat engulfed Yuri and the temperature in the air around them seemed to rise several degrees just in that short amount of time. The feeling spreading through his entire body was better then he had ever imagined it would be, and so much better than anything he could do for himself. His hips twitched eagerly and instinct told him that _moving_ inside that tight heat would feel even better. He grabbed onto Zagi's narrow hip with one hand, trying to force him down more somehow so he could bury even more of himself into the man.

He heard a grunt, and that reminded him that his pleasure was not the only thing that mattered. He looked at Zagi carefully to see if he was okay, but his face didn't show any signs of being in pain. As if to prove that he wasn't, Zagi pushed himself upward, then slammed back down into Yuri's lap. Another bolt of pleasure spread out from his groin and Yuri groaned. Zagi lifted himself up again and repeated the process, then did it again, and again.

Every time Zagi sat back down into his lap another shiver passed through Yuri's body, despite the heat around them. He couldn't believe that he had never done this before and had taken as long as he had to do it now. If he had known before how good it would feel…

Zagi slammed onto him again and on impulse Yuri raised his hips to meet him. He groaned again. It had felt even better this way. He prepared to do it again, but stopped when he realized that Zagi was no longer moving.

"Something wrong?" Yuri panted.

"Do that again," Zagi commanded softly. Yuri nodded, and when Zagi lifted himself and began to descend on him, Yuri thrust his hips upward. Zagi let out a strangled cry, like he had been trying to keep it back but hadn't quite managed. Yuri smirked knowingly. Obviously whatever he had done had felt good. He would keep doing it then and make sure the man in his lap was enjoying this just as much as he was. He would make sure that he felt something and that if the mark on his neck were to be a sign that he belonged to the assassin, then he _would_ succeed in making this man cry out as a way of showing that he too was someone else's.

As they continued moving together they established a rhythm and a pace, and both of them worked hard to keep it up. Zagi's legs curled around his sides and then wrapped around his waist, allowing Yuri to move around easier and penetrate him deeper. Yuri leant forward as he rocked and began to kiss up Zagi's neck slowly, making the assassin shudder and throw his head back. When his lips reached Zagi's own they both parted their mouths and began to kiss intensely for several seconds before both had to break away to breathe.

They were both breathing heavily now, but whenever a cry threatened to escape from Zagi he closed his mouth tightly. Yuri smirked as he watched him bite down on his lip and close his eyes, and on his next thrust he made sure to slam into his body particularly hard. He laughed breathily when Zagi's legs tightened around his waist but he continued to not allow himself to make any sort of noise.

"Haa… You can open your mouth… you know," Yuri panted. Zagi shook his head.

"No," He shot back stubbornly. Yuri had no doubt that if his voice had been steady he would have said much more. As it were, even that one word had sounded shaky.

"Haha… But… ahhh! …But I want to hear it…," Yuri purred. He nuzzled his face into the space between Zagi's neck and shoulder and licked the sensitive skin there, taking pleasure in the way the other man's body shivered.

"…I _will…_ get you to open your mouth you know," He whispered into his ear. Yuri's free hand, the one that had been grabbing Zagi's hip, trailed lower now, to the head of the other's erection. He flexed his hand and closed it around the other's length, then slowly ran his hand up the shaft and back down again. Zagi shuddered under his touch and Yuri chuckled.

"I'm going to make you do it… So you might as well do it now," Yuri suggested. Zagi shook his head and Yuri chuckled again and pulled away from his neck. He smiled wickedly and began to stroke up and down Zagi's length in time with his thrusts. He felt Zagi's legs begin to tremble at his sides and he knew that the end would be fast approaching for both of them. He was having difficulty holding back now, but he promised that he would not give up until he heard his name coming from Zagi's lips.

"Haa… haaa… Just… Just say my name… You can do that… I'm sure," Yuri panted. Again Zagi shook his head, stubborn even to the end. Even as he was still resisting, his legs tightened around Yuri's waist and he threw his head back as his orgasm ripped through him and ended up on both of their stomachs. The sudden tightening of muscles around his member took Yuri by surprise caused him too to release his seed as he threw his head back and cried out.

Zagi rode out his orgasm, and when it was over he shakily got off Yuri and lied down on the floor of the platform, breathing heavily. Yuri followed his example and lied on the floor too, distantly acknowledging the fact that his knees popped from being in the same position for so long and that he legs had gone numb. He felt a distant disappointment in himself for not achieving his goal of forcing Zagi to say his name, but neither that nor the pins and needles of his legs regaining feeling could keep away the heavy blanket of drowsiness that was slowly covering him.

"…to sleep."

"Huh?" Yuri questioned groggily. He opened his eyes and saw Zagi lying across from him. His hair had lost its messy spikes and was now draped over his bare shoulder. A few blonde strands were hanging in his face, but Yuri was too tired to rush them away. Zagi too looked tired. For one his face was slack and his ruby eyes half-lidded instead of being full of energy as they always were.

"Don't go to sleep," Zagi repeated.

"I can't stay awake the whole time," Yuri chuckled softly. He saw Zagi's expression change to a stern one and Yuri grew somber as he understood what Zagi was getting at.

"I can't just stay here forever. I have to go back to them you know," Yuri said seriously, looking at Zagi. Zagi broke eye contact with him and Yuri sighed. "You should have known that I would go back. I _can't_ just stay here. I don't belong here." Zagi continued to remain silent and Yuri sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. If Zagi were right then when he fell asleep here he would wake back up where everyone else was. It wasn't that he _wanted_ to leave, but this wasn't his world. He needed to return to the one that was.

"Yuri."

Yuri's eyes flew open and he turned his head to look at Zagi again. The assassin was still avoiding his gaze, but when he noticed that Yuri was looking at him their eyes met.

"Yuri," He said. "Don't..." He looked away again but shortly raised his eyes to meet with Yuri's once more. "Don't… don't forget."

Yuri chuckled softly. Sometimes, for a deadly assassin, this guy could be way too innocent and cute. He pulled the other man close to him and gathered him in his arms. For a moment they just lied there. Yuri smiled into his companion's hair. Zagi had said his name. And perhaps, he had succeeded in making the other understand after all.

"I don't think I could forget. You're quite the character you know," He chuckled. Zagi scowled and tried to pull away from his embrace but Yuri held on tight.

"Okay, okay, sorry. I'll be serious now," He soothed. He gently stroke Zagi's hair with one hand while the other held him tightly, and soon he stopped fighting the embrace and relaxed. "I can't stay here forever, but I won't forget. I promise. And I'll be back whenever I can." Zagi nodded into his chest and Yuri kissed the top of his head. Then he allowed himself to fall asleep.

00000

Yuri woke up in the middle of the night in an inn at Nor Harbor. His companions were all sleeping soundly. He got out of his bed quietly and headed to the bathroom. When he got there he stood in front of the mirror and opened his shirt. On his collarbone was a large red mark, parts of it already starting to turn purple. Yuri fixed his shirt and shook his head, smiling. Well, he was going to have a hard time trying to keep _that_ a secret, but all in all, he was glad it was there.

* * *

Ta-da, that was it! Yay! M'kay, so just to get this out in the open, all I remember learning about in the game with the whole Caged Emperor's Bride story was that she was a ghost, and one day Estelle found a veil. If there was anything else to it, oh well. It wasn't really that important to the story anyways. Convenient plot devices ftw!

Next, this is my first time writing these two characters, so they may not be exactly in character. I had quite a bit of trouble with Yuri actually, because he is so laid back about EVERYTHING, so it was a little difficult trying to get that through. Zagi was much easier because he's insane, and I like my men crazy XD That being said, there were quite a few times I made him more... human-ish so to say, and that was because I really can't picture anyone being solely obsessed with killing. I mean, everyone needs love at some point in time, so that's my reasoning for that.

Well that's it, hope you all enjoyed it, and if you would, leave me a review telling me how I did! Any comments on characterization would be especially appreciated, as I know that I have at least one more story idea with this couple planned in my head. Thanks!


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